Between food, pets, and stinky shoes, your home might smell less like a daisy and more like…well, it might be better to use your imagination on that one.

The good news is you can do much more than choose between odor tolerance or dousing the space with chemical-packed sprays.

Here are 9 items you probably already have to help effectively de-odorize:

Apple Cider Vinegar – Pour a half cup of apple cider vinegar down any stinky drain to dispense with unpleasant odors.
Green Tea – If Lucky’s litter box is smelling a little less-than-fresh lately, try dried green tea leaves. Just tear open a few tea bags and sprinkle the leaves into the litterbox to reduce odors.
Dryer Sheets – Toss a dryer sheet or two into your kitchen trash bin to help soak up the unpleasantness.
Baking Soda – Banish stinky shoe odors by sprinkling a little baking soda into each shoe and let them sit overnight. Tap the powder out the next morning and you’ll be ready to hit the pavement odor-free.
Lemon Juice – Garbage disposal smelling a little foul lately? Just pour two cups of lemon juice down the drain for a fresh citrusy scent.
Onions – You read that right. Onions work wonders for absorbing mold and mildew odors in basements. Simply slice an onion down the middle and let it sit in the basement overnight. You’ll wake up to an odor-free cellar.
Vanilla Extract – Replace the smell of leftovers with the sweet smell of vanilla in your freezer. Simply soak a cotton ball in vanilla extract and wipe it around the inside of the freezer.
Coffee Grounds – Pour unused coffee grounds into a couple of coffee filters and tie with them with strings to make little baggies, then toss them inside your fridge. The scent of coffee will overpower most unpleasant food odors.
Salt and Cinnamon – If your dinner pot runneth over, sprinkle a few pinches of cinnamon and table salt onto the spill while it’s still warm. Once the surface has cooled and the spill has dried, scrape off the residue.

You know what else can stink? Your furnace, especially the first time you turn it on in the fall or winter. The likely source? Built up dust and dirt from its long summer’s absence. To dispense with that odor and keep your furnace in top working order, contact Optimum Air today and ask about our furnace preventive maintenance service.